One moment I sat at my desk, researching methods to fine-tune the recipe of my facial masks, and the next Bryce stormed into my office as though closed doors didn't signify boundaries.

"Uh, can I help you with anything?" I asked, hoping there was actually nothing I could do for him. I was close to the breakthrough I needed and since the store was quiet today, I'd much rather use my time on my research than on anything my asshole boss wanted.

He sat on the chair opposite me and crossed his legs.

I deflated. That was his I want to talk move.

Bryce laced his fingers above his thigh and said, "I want to talk about your performance as of late."

People of old had been researching spontaneous combustion as if it were of grave concern, but what came over me was the exact opposite. I physically froze into a once human iceberg as my brain scrambled to find any instances that might have prompted this torture. Aside from agreeing with Quinta to try some homemade products instead of buying crazy pricey ones, I couldn't think of anything.

"Uhh..."

Bryce etched one of those winning smiles of his. "You have gone above and beyond. Don't think I didn't notice how you helped us sign those contracts with South Korean providers and your efforts for the anniversary event."

Gracias Señor! I could breathe again.

I sat straighter as I said, "Yes, we even sold out of the Korean products. They proved to be every bit the hit you expected."

"Of course." While he nodded, I mentally praised myself for my diplomacy. "That's why I would like to give you a proper reward."

I jumped to my feet. "A bonus?"

Any amount of extra money he gave me would help fund my research and get me that much closer to the goal of having a kickass baseline of products I could pitch to Bryce.

He laughed. "Even better, and I would like to tell you over dinner tonight if you're available on a Friday night."

A bonus. Maybe a raise. Of course I as fucking available.

I sat back down, all demure and beauty pageant like and said, "Absolutely."

As soon as he'd vacated my office I called Mom and told her the news. We somewhat managed to keep our volume down, since she was also at work. A few squeals did leak out, though.

Ever since I'd been promoted to a full time employee, I'd had no other salary increases or recognitions. I was really looking forward to what was well overdue.

After texting Dawn and Quinta about it, there was only one more person I wanted to share the news with but it had been a while since we last talked—which coincided with the last time we kissed. I took a deep breath and clung to the buoyancy my happiness gave me, letting go of the embarrassment weighing me down since then, and finally texted Tae Yang.

I have great news!

He responded right away with, Fantastic! That makes only one of us.

Uh-oh, I responded. Did the funny girl keep hitting on you?

Tell me ur good news first & then I tell you my ?! news.

Okay, my asshole boss made a not so asshole move and invited me to dinner to give me either a bonus or a promotion for my stellar work of the past few months.

Whoa, that's amazing and so well deserved! 'Bout time he compensated u for almost dying.

I chuckled and responded with, IKR? Okay, your turn.

Tae Yang's text bubble worked hard for a little while without actually producing any words, until he finally hit send to this very short but poignant line.

My parents set me up on another blind date with a different girl.

The way I sat forward, anyone would think I'd just been notified of having just lost the bonus I was promised.

Maybe spontaneous combustion was possible because I suddenly felt hot all over, especially behind my eyes.

Uh, I texted, not knowing what else to say for a while until eventually he put me out of my misery.

Yeah... I may need some help again.

And just as quick, I felt like I'd earned my bonus back.

This boy had me in a rollercoaster of emotions I shouldn't have got on. The best I could do if I wanted to get off the ride was to offer advice over texts and put some distance.

But it wasn't what I wanted to do. I'd had more fun with Tae Yang's shenanigans than I'd had in... carajo, ni me acuerdo.

So I responded with, Sure, when's the date?

Tonight. After a long paused he added, And my parents informed me about it today. As in, literally ten minutes ago.

Oh shit!

My thoughts exactly.

Okay well, I have the dinner with my boss tonight too.

Hmm, he texted along with the thinking emoji. What if we both have our dates in the same restaurant?

What if? I had the answer for that. It was the perfect recipe for disaster and I couldn't wait to dive head first into it.

Tae Yang and I agreed on the venue and the time, and made our respective reservations before informing our dinner partners.

I insisted to Bryce I needed to drive separately to the restaurant, but only so I could call Tae Yang and do a sober pregame that started with me telling him, "First of all, this is insane."

"I don't dispute it." He chuckled and the sound was so warm and smooth it gave me a shiver. "But you have to admit it's kinda fun."

"Unfortunately, yes." I sighed, willing my thumping heart to calm down. "Second of all, let's agree to not go too crazy this time, okay?"

He groaned. "But that's like seventy percent of the fun."

"Tae Yang..."

"Oh no, that tone of voice sounds a lot like my mom."

With that, we had the barebones of a plan and also succeeded at bypassing the awkward conversation I'd been avoiding. The one where I'd have had to tell him the kiss meant nothing and we had to stay as friends, even though the kiss had very much rocked my boat, making friendship a lot less enticing than something more.

At any rate, at the end of the night I'd have more money in my pocket either right now or through a promotion, and Tae Yang and I would continue being platonic partners in crime who liked to share giggles together. Win-win.

Tae Yang was already waiting at his table when I arrived, and since his date and Bryce weren't around yet I dropped by on my way to mine.

"You look good but not like you made an effort," I said, acknowledging an obvious thing—which was he was hot in whatever he wore, including the simple grey t-shirt he had on.

He inclined his head. "Thank you. I rolled out of bed like this in the morning."

Desgraciado.

"Let me know if you need rescue from your boss too, by the way," he said all of a sudden.

"I—thanks, but I definitely won't need rescue from good news."

After a furtive glance behind me, I figured I might be overstaying my welcome and with a wave of my hand, I kept walking to the table I'd been showed to. It was a bit far from Tae Yang's, but I could still see well enough.

Bryce arrived before Tae Yang's date, though. He sat directly opposite of me, which drastically reduced my visibility. I scooted my chair over just a couple of inches.

"It's good to see you outside of work again," Bryce said as he perused the menu.

Meanwhile, I used mine as a screen so I could catch the exact moment when Tae Yang's date arrived. Another pretty girl who appeared fully Korean this time. Her hair was cut into a long bob that framed her face in a flattering way. Her clothes pointed out she'd come straight from the office, which was another point on her side. She also hadn't put too much weight on this date and was likely a hard working girl.

I frowned. At a glance I didn't see anything wrong with her.

"Is everything okay?" my boss asked.

"Yeah, totally."

Not.

Tae Yang might not need any help.

Great. That way it would be a lot easier to stick to my vow of not dating and letting go of whatever he made me feel. And I'd be able to concentrate on dinner with my boss without issues.

"—what do you think?" Bryce asked, and it was clear to me I had missed what he asked.

I cleared my throat. "Sorry, what was that?"

"The barbecue for two, would you like to share it?"

"Oh, yeah. Sure." I briefly glanced at that item in the menu and my eyes popped at the price. But whatever, I wouldn't be the one paying.

I took another peek over my menu at the other couple. Tae Yang was smiling at something the girl said and a pang pierced my chest. Turned out I was here not for moral support, but for emotional torture.

For the first time since his arrival, I turned my full focus on my boss. "So, what were the news you wanted to give me?"

"What can I get you both?" the waiter said as he appeared by our table.

I let Bryce order, if only so I could catch my breath for a moment. I barely resisted the magnetic pull to check out the other table. Instead, I glanced at my phone to see if there were any S.O.S. from Tae Yang. There was nothing.

My lips pursed.

"Anyway," Bryce continued after the waiter left. He leaned forward and since he wasn't a small guy, the move made the space between us shrink. "Like I was saying earlier, I really have to recognize all your efforts. I know you arrive before I do and leave well after everyone else has cleared the office. Plus, there's all the extra work you do supporting the shop floor."

I fixed up the ruffles at the neck of my blouse to release some of the fluttering energy in my body. It was either that or start laughing and saying that duh, I knew every single thing I did to excel on a daily basis.

"Frankly, you're amazing," Bryce said, to my utter surprise. Those were words he'd never said to me outside of bed. "And I've been an absolute fool not to realize it earlier."

The fact I agreed with everything he said was alarming and should've been the sign I needed to send a S.O.S. to Tae Yang.

Alas, like a fool I didn't.

"Which is why," Bryce said, making a pause that felt endless. "I'd like to ask you out formally."

Wait.

Did I just hear what I thought I heard?

Nothing about a bonus or a salary increase, and instead he'd asked me to be his girlfriend? Kinda?

"I don't understand," I said in all honesty.

He reached over the table and grabbed my hand. "Cee, you're the perfect woman for me. Drop dead gorgeous, smart and dependable. What we had before isn't enough. I don't want us to go back to being office fuck buddies, I want us to be the real deal together."

Office fuck buddies? That was what we were for him?

I sucked in all the air in the restaurant. Every other patron passed out from lack of oxygen, including Bryce. I stood up and made my exit—

Was what I wished happened. Instead, I was once more a still life statue before Bryce Montgomery, wondering where I'd gone wrong in life.

Had it been before I was born, when I was so favored by the genetic pool? Or was it the moment I figured I would get anything I wanted because of the way I looked and all the praise went to my head?

Because surely what my beauty had given me was a curse instead. The curse of being fooled by empty promises and ripping my heart out to give it to vapid guys who would never appreciate it.

Like Bryce.

That was when I'd truly gone and fucked up, when I thought having sex with him would lead to a marriage proposal and not to this awkward entanglement we'd been in for years, where he'd made it clear he'd wanted to keep getting in between my legs while dangling anything else I wanted in front of me, and never giving it for real. First, a marriage proposal. Then, a solid career.

I shook my head. "What about the bonus? The promotion?"

He blinked rapidly. "The what?"

"You know," I said, wringing my hands under the table. "The recognition you promised for all my efforts at work."

"I want to promise you something much better." Bryce paused. "Myself."

That was when I stood up.

A figure moved from the corner of my eye and when I focused on it, I found Tae Yang striding over.

"Cee?" Bryce asked.

I met Tae Yang's eyes over my absolute imbecile of a boss and did everything I could not to break down right there and then.

Without a single word, Tae Yang took my hand in his and pulled me away with him. In the distance, I could hear Bryce protesting but I burrowed against Tae Yang's side and let him whisk me away from that nightmare.

SONG OF THE DAY: Fontella Bass - Rescue Me

brace thyselves for a long A/N full of cool stuff 👀

1) i have posted a book trailer for SONGS OF YOU on my instagram account! check it out at mariannahubrism (i think it turned out pretty cute) 💜

2) have you heard about writersconnx? it's a conference organized by some of the coolest wattpadders (and i say that not just because i'm involved, lmao), and sponsored by wattpad! 🧡

it will be held virtually on november 5th and 6th with a ton of panels about your favorite book genres, writing craft, and also the inside scoop on Wattpad Books and big news about cool stuff that is coming to Wattpad from the HQ team! 🤩

i'll be in the following panels:

🔸 Nov 05 01:00PM–02:00PM GMT-4 - Room For Everyone: Diversity and Inclusion in our Stories

🔸 Nov 06 03:00PM–03:30PM GMT-4 - Smells Like Teen Panel

🔸 Nov 06 05:00PM–05:45PM GMT-4 - Writing Craft: Really Real Characters

AND i will have a meet and greet on Nov 06! 😘

and now thanks to Wattpad's generosity it's completely free!! hope to see you there 💃🏻